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Sydney had a very special day. I took Sydney and her two good friends, Emily and Lily all the way to L.A. to the American Girl store. My mom and Lily's mom Tiffany went along and I think we had as good of a time as the girls. Before we looked around the store we had Tea in the Cafe. It was so cute! Lily really enjoyed the "conversation" card's they had on the table. She would get so excited when asked a question or asking a question. Sydney loved trying the hot chocolate and pink lemonade. Her birthday cake was amazing! It looked like a wrapped present. Sydney also loved the peppermint ice cream that was served with it! The girls we all giggles and everything was exciting to them. They were given goodie bags to take home with all sorts of girlie things like hair bows and lip gloss.

We spent a lot of time in the store later. It was like a doll museum! I thought Sydney would want a new "Big Girl" doll but once we were inside the Bitty Baby section she only wanted new clothes for Hanna ( Hanna is her Bitty Baby her Grandma Lowe gave her when Bella was born). Hanna and Sydney sleep together every night and she travels on all over-night trips. I was glad she still loves to play with her baby doll. Just maybe it means she is not getting to big just yet. Grandma Lowe was so nice and bought Sydney and Hanna matching birthday dresses (picture to come). I think Sydney wore her dress for 3 days straight!

Swim Lessons

The girls started swim lessons again in February. Sydney is getting used to the water and try's to be very brave but she does not seem to be a water-bug like her dad. We are hoping she will grow to like it. Bella is the opposite (true in most things) of Sydney and can't wait to get in and never wants to get out. It is obvious from the smile that is always on her face while in the pool. I wouldn't be surprised if she was smiling while under water! Preston is next.

Froggy Doggy Song

My sister April had this song posted on her blog so I played it for my kids. They can't get enough of it now. Check out www.Keywilde.com

Camping

This past weekend the girls and I went on our first ever over-nighter. I've really been looking forward to taking Sydney and Bella camping for a long time now (don't worry Preston, your turn will come soon my man). So, after a busy work week and a few trips to REI and Walmart, we packed up the car on Friday afternoon and headed out for our overnight adventure.

We camped at San Elijo State Beach which is only a few miles up the road and is right on the bluffs overlooking the surf at Cardiff. The campsites are pretty basic and we had lots of neighbors (and their dogs) but we had all we needed to experience the great outdoors.



Bella helped me set up the tent while Sydney scouted out the campsite and watched the surfers right below us. We set up camp, built a fire, cooked dinner on the camping stove and then cooked marshmallows and made smores. The girls were pretty tired by then so we checked out the stars for a few and then snuggled up in the tent to read a few books with our headlamps on. We all sacked out pretty quickly as the sound of the surf lulled us to sleep (I gotta live closer to the beach someday...). All in all, the girls were total champs.



Highlights:

Smores - cooking, eating and and wearing them (Bella got a lot of mileage out of a single smore - it ended up on her face, pants, hair, chair, the tent and even Dad's shoes).
Flashlights and headlamps - very cool according to the girls.
Doughnut Holes - "Dad, can we have just one (i.e. five) doughnut hole"? Right behind the smores, the doughnut holes were a big hit. Something Sydney actually likes more than bread and butter!
Cooking on the new camping stove - took pictures to have evidence that I actually do cook once in awhile (ok, so only when camping...)
Camp Store - Bella got a toy cell phone which she claims was the highlight of the trip.

Tavarua 2008

In January we were back for another week in paradise - Tavarua Island, Fiji. Great waves, weather and new and old friends. This place is awesome and the surf can definitely get pumping. Best part is there are no crowds since the only people allow to surf Cloudbreak and Restaurants are the guests of the island. We made a pretty cool picture book using our Mac so if you're ever at the house we'll show it off!

I could write all day about how great this place is...

Check out this video clip - awesome wave (unfortunatley, i'm holding the video camera on this one!)